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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992721">As They Often Pass Their Evenings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieL/pseuds/EllieL'>EllieL</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Snapemas &amp; Snolidays 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Hot Chocolate, Professors, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:22:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>812</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieL/pseuds/EllieL</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One evening at the end of term, Professors Snape and Granger are sitting down together to mark their exams.</p>
<p>For the Snolidays 2020 prompt "hot cocoa."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Severus Snape</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Snapemas &amp; Snolidays 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>As They Often Pass Their Evenings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As a Potions Master, Severus took preparation and brewing seriously, whether that was PepperUp or a cup of tea. Today, when they were both a little drained by the end of the semester, it was hot cocoa. He’d been horrified the first time he saw her making it with some kind of muggle packet of powder and dehydrated “marshmallow” bits, and prohibited such an offending thing from his kitchen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, he slowly stirred shaved chocolate—a precise blend of dark with just a bit of milk—into a warm mixture of milk, cream, and one and a half tablespoons of sugar. It smelled delicious, and was one of his favorite things to make. Not that he would admit that to anyone but Hermione. He secretly had a bit of a sweet tooth, and appreciated that the holiday season gave him an excuse to indulge without suspicion. Though the house elves always seemed to know, and were generous in their portioning of desserts. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The chocolate shavings melted slowly into the creamy base, darkening it and thickening it as he let it rise nearly to a boil. Then he let it bubble into a boil for precisely ninety seconds before removing it from the heat and carefully pouring it into waiting mugs. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Shaped like snowmen, they had been a concession to her, since they were at least mostly bland and white. And she’d transfigured his to have a scowl. He cracked a peppermint stick and placed half in each mug, giving them one anticlockwise stir before adding two fresh marshmallows and putting them on a serving plate with a few chocolate chip cookies. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Entering their study, he found Hermione still bent over her desk, frowning at a student’s exam essay. He placed a mug and two cookies right where she would see them but not interfere with her grading process, with which he’d become well accustomed. She was nothing if not methodical.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Dare I ask?” He settled at his own desk, and began arranging his ink bottles.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“They occasionally manage to render me speechless at how little attention they’ve paid in class.” She shook her head, and reached for a cookie. “This was supposed to be a softball question they could all get points for—’What law applies to the transfiguration of food?’”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh Merlin.” He paused with his mug halfway to his lips. Easy questions, in his experience, usually resulted in the most horrifying of answers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She dunked half her cookie into the cocoa, then took a bite, eyes closed, before she could continue, reading directly from the essay. “Gramps’s L</span>
  <span>aw says you can transfigure things into food of a similar shape. I could change my wand into a licorice stick.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Severus couldn’t help it, and burst out laughing, nearly spilling his cocoa. “Sweet Circe!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His laughter was enough to tip her into laughter rather than frustration. Eventually she managed, “I don’t even know where to start with how much is wrong with that answer.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Would you like me to grade this particular exam?” He raised a brow and reached out a hand.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, no! There would be so much red ink poor Mr. Krebs wouldn’t be able to see his own writing to know what you were correcting.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, that explains much.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“His potions work is just as remarkable?” She reached for her mug and took a long sip, clearly savoring. “You make the best hot cocoa.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.” He took another drink of his own, then continued, “He managed to confuse dried cherry stones with aged cherry stone clam shells.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That must have been interesting.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“If by interesting you mean highly volatile, then yes, it was.”  Reaching for the plate of cookies, he selected one that looked especially chippy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It exploded?” This regaling of classroom disasters was one of their most amusing pastimes, and she couldn't recall this particular incident having been shared the day it happened.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Worse, melted the brass cauldron and partially through both the table and his hand before he started screaming and I was able to contain it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Indeed.” Finishing the last bite of cookie, he reached for his quill. “I dare say he’ll be lucky to pass his OWL in potions.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You so rarely have someone that doesn’t.” She’d put her own quill down, absorbed in her hot cocoa.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve partnered him with Miss Wilson for the rest of the year. She reminds me very much of you, and you managed to drag half of Gryffindor through their OWLs.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you. I think.” Her brow furrowed over the rim of her mug, but she knew he spoke the truth, and that it was a compliment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They went back to work in companionable silence, the sound of scratching quills and the occasional crunch of a cookie the only sound between them. As so often happened, they passed the rest of their evening that way.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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